E-Board takes care of budgeting

Hello RPI! I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving Break and is recovering well from their food comas! Finals are just around the corner with only two short weeks left of classes. I hope everyone manages to make it through these last few days before enjoying Winter Break.

This time of year is busy and stressful for everyone. We are all shopping for gifts and celebrating the holidays while simultaneously trying to make sure we pass our classes. The Executive Board is also entering its busiest season of the year. Previously, study days would mark the beginning of budgeting for the Executive Board where we would review operating budgets for athletic teams. Since operating budgets in athletics are funded directly from a student fee this year, we moved our timeline forward. Beginning on December 1, we will review administrative budgets for the Rensselaer Union. The Executive Board will look at all budgets that fall under the Union during four days over the course of the next three weeks. These budgets include club and organizations budgets, the Union’s physical building budget, and administrative budgets; we will also be calculating your Activity Fee for the upcoming year during this time.

On December 1 and 8, the Executive Board will be reviewing the administrative budgets and the budgets for the facilities we maintain. This encompasses some of the programming budgets, including Speaker’s Forum, Summer Programming, and performing arts, as well as specific budgets for general club support and intramurals. These evenings will start at 7 pm for the Executive Board and are anticipated to go until 11 pm. The Executive Board has barely begun its budgeting work at this point. On December 10 and 12, the E-Board will be reviewing the club and organization budgets. During this process the E-Board tries to be as fair as possible to every club, while also trying to balance the anticipated needs of every budget submitted.

After completing these initial budgeting sessions, the E-Board will allow time for appeals to budget decisions during study days. However, appeals will only be allowed for these two days, so clubs will need to act quickly in order for this to occur. The Board will review these appeals and make final decisions regarding those budgets prior to Wednesday, December 11, with all Union budgets being finalized before leaving for winter break.

Come January, the Union Annual Report Committee receives all of the budgetary information and compiles the Union Annual Report, which details to students exactly where their Activity Fee is being spent. I hope that you take the time to look at the UAR, as it is something that is truly unique to RPI.

I wish you all good luck with your finals, and I hope you don’t stress too much over the next couple of weeks. If you have any questions or comments please feel free to reach out to me at pu@rpi.edu.